My earlier patent application Ser. No. 594,583 filed July 10, 1975, now U.S. Pat. No. 4,025,927, describes a magnetic recording head for recording images on a magentic tape, the head including a group of closely-spaced parallel conductors. Each conductor included a thin nickel layer nearest the magnetic tape and thick copper layer on the side of the nickel layer which is opposite the tape, and with the copper layer having a small gap in it. When a current was passed through one of the conductors, the center of current flow suddenly veered close to the magnetic tape at the location of the gap in the copper layer, the current thereat being close enough to the magnetic tape to magnetize a spot on the tape.
This technique has enabled construction of a recording head by printed circuit methods so that the conductors could be spaced close together, such as at a spacing of three mil (thousandth of an inch) to enable the recording of images of high detail. However, with conductor strips spaced so closely together, it is difficult to make connections to the strips. Where a moderate number of recording elements such as 32 of them are utilized, the conductors can be formed with ends that are tapered to a large width and arranged in a fan formation. However, there are applications where it is desirable to provide a much greater number of recorder elements, as in a device which can serve as a line printer. For example, in one application, it is desirable to provide perhaps 2000 recording locations arranged to extend across most of a sheet of paper of 81/2 inches width. The provision of about 2000 elements spaced four mil apart, can lead to great difficulties in providing connections to the elements to send currents through selected elements. The ends of the elements could be enlarged to perhaps one-sixteenth inch and spaced one-eighth inch apart, but this would result in the ends of the 2000 elements occupying a region having a width of 250 inches, which would make the machine very cumbersome.